Happy Ending
Happy Ending
Whoooosh-!
The Balloon Sword showed no signs of stopping its light emission anytime soon.
Amid the swirling radiance, a blue window floated up.
Ding-!
[Option granting is complete.]
Only then did its momentum subside.
I quietly examined the balloon in my hand.
As always, it was a cute sword with a colorful palette.
The only thing different was that a faint light shimmered from it.
'What the...?'
Still standing there without a full grasp of the situation.
Then, the explanation from the Status Window continued before me.
Ding-!
[Balloon Sword+]
Classification: Growth-type Weapon
Grade: E+
Growth Limit Grade: None
Status: Colorful, Squishy, Sparkly
Description: A special Balloon Sword. Emits a faint purification light from the blade. It is a weapon that can grow.
"What."
I blankly read the letters on the screen.
It roughly meant that purification and light emission options had been added.
In short, an LED function had been attached.
My Absolute Balloon Sword had evolved into an Absolute Bright Balloon Sword.
'And it's not just that.'
A growth option appeared on the weapon.
Meaning it wouldn't just stop at sparkling, but its functions would continue to improve.
"What is this."
This is the first time I've seen such options attached to a mere Balloon Sword.
Is this the reward for suddenly completing a hidden quest?
Parrying 300 times with one weapon, the option granted to that weapon.
I seem to have gotten something good.
Squishy squishy-.
I fidgeted with the sparkling surface.
A faint purification light seeped out.
"Hmm."
Growth-type.
Weapon attribute: Purification.
Grade starts at E+.
A sweet smell wafted up from somewhere.
"Usually, items like these have a high ceiling..."
It's usually like that.
Weapons that grow tend to have a higher ceiling than weapons that are complete from the start.
Moreover, this guy didn't even have a growth limit grade.
Normally, it should be set at B-grade or around A-grade.
But, the fact that such a notation is absent...
'Does it mean it could potentially break through even the S-grade ceiling?'
Right now, it's just a Balloon Sword with an LED, but if raised well, it might become an endgame-level weapon.
Of course, I wasn't certain.
For all I know, even if raised to S-grade, its performance might be just so-so.
Plus, how to raise an E+ grade item to S-grade was also a problem.
'I'll think about that later.'
I organize my scattered thoughts.
A smile was already hanging on my lips.
'Who would have thought I'd get such a harvest.'
Swish, swish-.
Grinning widely, I swing the Balloon Sword a few times.
Perhaps because the surroundings are dark, the drawn trajectory looks particularly flashy.
As if I were wielding a lightsaber.
'Fuckin' cool....'
There are three things that stir a man's heartstrings.
One is dinosaurs.
One is Faker.
The last is lightsabers.
'It even changes color.'
I don't know the principle, but the color changed every time I touched the blade.
Blue, red, purple, green, etc.
A color combination reminiscent of a certain galactic knight order.
Feeling a greater sense of satisfaction than from any of the rewards I'd randomly received before, I walked.
Heading out to the promised point, Carmilla, who was waiting there first, greets me.
"Viktor."
"Princess-nim! You were waiting."
"I have finished cleaning up the research building as requested."
"The corridors are also cleared. Shall we move to the next point?"
"Let us do so. Hmm, by the way... that Balloon Sword, was it originally glowing?"
"Impressive, isn't it?"
"Certainly... the sparkling appearance is striking."
"See! I knew Princess-nim would recognize the value of this sword!"
"My aesthetic sense is indeed exceptional, after all."
We exchange some nonsense as we walk for a bit.
The cult branch is already annihilated.
We've swept away all the believers and smashed all the experimental facilities.
'Now, what's left is....'
The head of this branch.
In other words, the stage boss.
Regardless of a dungeon's clear difficulty, a boss monster always exists.
And we were currently on our way to hunt such a creature.
"Hmm... that aside, where is that so-called lab director hiding?"
"Probably on the 3rd basement floor. The director's office is located there."
"We heard the civilians captured as test subjects are also on the 3rd floor."
"Let's deal with the director first, then free the people."
"What do you think, Viktor? That human called the director."
"About what?"
The girl tilts her head slightly.
Amid her flowing silver hair, her crimson eyes sparkle.
"Is he strong?"
"Well. I'd say about 20% of Professor Glinbert."
"It seems he's not that strong, then. Is it because he's not a combatant?"
"Correct. Though, Professor Glinbert is monstrously strong himself."
"But, didn't he fall helplessly to that professor, Javert?"
"That's because Professor Javert is exceptional..."
Javert was on a completely different level.
Otherwise, I wouldn't have brought up the Glinbert incident.
The youngest Chief Investigator.
The Dean's disciple and foster daughter.
The de facto number two of Grandia Academy.
'To receive a wish ticket from such a person...'
It was a windfall in many ways.
Moreover, Javert is the stubborn type.
Not someone who would break a promise or pretend not to know.
Rather, she's the type who would try her best to fulfill a request.
'Of course... as long as it doesn't go against her own sense of justice.'
It seems I need to have a talk with her sometime.
Its uses were coming to mind in many ways.
While walking lost in such random thoughts.
Clunk, clunk-.
Someone's presence could be heard from beyond the corridor.
The direction we were heading, where the director's office is located.
"Viktor."
"Yes."
We stop in our tracks.
After waiting briefly, something peeks out from the end of the alleyway.
"Intruders."
It was a man draped in a robe.
Did he decide to clash head-on first, rather than waiting for us to come?
The suspicious figure, shrouded in demonic energy, was in the middle of casting a spell.
"How dare, how dare, how dare... do you know where this is?!"
Kwaaaaaa-!
Ominous shadows swarm throughout the entire corridor.
Condensing into a single stream, they shoot out like a crimson beam.
"What have you done to my labaaaaaah!!!!"
Kwagwagwagwa-!
An attack that literally shatters the corridor as it surges forward.
Whether the lab director had lost his reason, his eyes were rolled back.
Facing the swarming beam, I don't retreat; instead, I kick off the ground and charge forward.
"Princess-nim."
"Alright, I'll assist."
Somehow, the pocket watch already in my hand.
Pressing the button, I swing the balloon.
Click-.
The previously straight beam's trajectory warps.
A light parry, the following follow-up attack is also parried.
The debris scattering everywhere is blocked by Carmilla.
"Who sent you! Fuck, is it the Frontier Knight Order! Who is itaaaaaah!"
The director shouts as if wronged.
As expected, was he just a nameless mob boss in the original work?
It went beyond ugly, even feeling pitiful.
"Fu, fu, fuck! Why are you doing this to us! Why did you suddenly come here and fuck shit uuuuup!!!"
"Well."
I let out a snicker.
Having already deflected five beams, the gap between the director and me was just a few steps.
"It's not like you guys had a reason for tormenting people either, right?"
Somehow having put the watch away, a blood-red scythe now in hand.
The smiling mask reflected in his pupils.
Without hesitation, I recite the incantation.
"Ignition. Axe."
Puuuuck-!
Jet-black blood splattered into the air.
Cult 31st Branch.
Its lab director, Kilgrim.
The middle-aged Black Mage let out ragged breaths.
"Huff, huff..."
An axe that narrowly grazed him.
He almost had his upper and lower body separated.
Killgrim opens his eyes wide and hastily retreats backward.
"Fu, fuuuuuck..."
His pupils were trembling violently.
In his field of view, a white and a red mask.
These crazy bitches who suddenly barged into the lab and started wreaking havoc.
'Why, why in the world...!'
Killgrim felt wronged.
Originally, he should have been having a fun time torturing test subjects around now, but instead, he was on the verge of being killed without a chance to resist.
The feeling of his precious daily life shattering.
That simple, beautiful daily life of disassembling test subjects and stirring the entrails of kidnapped people—it was shattered.
"Ahh..."
The approaching death before his eyes.
The white mask was approaching, swinging an axe.
He had already attacked several times, but they were just deflected mockingly.
"Don't come closer..."
Killgrim was overcome with fear.
"I said don't come closer...!"
But the mask paid no heed.
Just as Killgrim was stepping back, a strange resonance reached his ears.
A sudden voice.
Panic-stricken, Killgrim could only respond stupidly.
<So... won't you make a contract with me?>
"Huuh, huuhh?"
"I, I'll do it! I can do anything! So please save me!"
It didn't matter.
For now, Killgrim wanted to live.
As if pleased with that answer, the voice in his ear laughs brightly.
<Good.>
Whooosh-!
Simultaneously, something coils around Killgrim's body.
Like the source of power, an afterimage spreading pure white.
Soon, Killgrim's entire body is covered in light.
<Transform.>
The next moment.
Killgrim was standing right there.
However, his appearance had changed quite significantly.
"Huuh, huuh...?"
It was strange.
A feeling as if he had become someone else's body.
Looking down, his changed appearance came into view.
The gloomy robe he wore just moments ago was gone, replaced by a fluttering short skirt and top.
"Kya, kyaaah...?!"
His voice had changed too.
His body was no longer that of a middle-aged man, but that of a young girl's body.
She looked to be around her mid-teens.
<Can you feel the power?>
A whispering voice.
Just as the resonance said.
The changed body.
Inside it, an immense energy could be felt.
The grimoire he harbored had, before he knew it, become a cute magic wand.
<The magical girl of justice, Killgrim!>
<Blow away the masked villains before you!>
The trembling girl finally came to her senses.
In front, the two masks, hesitating as if bewildered.
Killgrim swung the magic wand.
Even though it was a power she was handling for the first time, she instinctively knew how to use it.
"With the power of love and justice!"
A sparkling heart.
"Magical Beam☆!!!"
Kwaaaaaaaa-!
A beam of light sparkling with love flooded her vision.
The vicious villains, unable to resist, were swept away by the beam and evaporated.
"......!?"
"......!"
Thus, the utterly wrecked corridor.
Only Killgrim remained standing there.
The girl stared at the empty space, panting.
"I, I did it...!"
She had defeated the vicious villains with an unknown power.
Having overcome the crisis, Killgrim.
Only then did the girl examine her own body.
Her reflection in a puddle of blood was simply shocking.
"Ehh, is this me...?"
The lovely-colored short skirt, the white pantyhose visible underneath.
The sparkling aura like stars around her, even the sky-blue hair tied in twin tails.
The girl fidgeted with her body, looking slightly embarrassed.
It was the perfect image of a TS magical girl.
"Oi oi! The magical girl saved us!"
Then.
Subordinates hiding here and there in the corridors peeked out.
The magical girl who broke through the vicious villain's invasion and descended like a sparkling star.
"Damn, I believed in her!"
"As expected of a magical girl! I had no idea the director possessed such amazing power!"
"Amazing! Of course, mere insignificant villains couldn't possibly block the TS magical girl's MagicalfutanarikidnappingcaptivityPorcheggioCoachclimaxbeam!"
People cheering.
Blushing slightly, Killgrim waved her hand at the enthusiastic praise.
"Hehe..."
Then.
The ceiling of the lab is ripped off.
The dark ceiling disappears, revealing the blue sky beyond.
Visible beyond the collapsed ceiling is a mecha Tyrannosaurus of gigantic size.
"Wh, what is that...?!"
A flustered Killgrim.
But the mecha Tyrannosaurus speaks as if to calm her.
"Calm down, Killgrim."
"Wh, who are you?"
"Ahh, I am your father."
"Father...!"
A touching reunion of father and daughter.
Killgrim runs to the mecha Tyrannosaurus, crying, and hugs it.
Then.
Light shines in the air, and a mysterious Kamen Rider appears.
"Killgrim! Look at me!"
"Wh, what...?"
"I am your mother! Indeed, when you were 6 months old, I had an affair with another man, abandoned you under a bridge and ran away!"
"Mother? B, but you're a man...!"
"A man can also be a mother! Discard that narrow-minded thinking that such roles are determined by gender!"
"Ah...! My LGBT sensitivity was lacking!"
"That's right, daughter! Now come hug your mother too!"
Grab-!
The girl is embraced in the Kamen Rider's arms.
This time, it was a touching reunion of mother and daughter.
"Ugh, sob, Mother...! With what face did you come back after having an affair!"
"My affair partner got old and developed erectile dysfunction, what else! He was trash who couldn't do anything except night activities!"
"So you came back to Father! You plan to cling to him because he might not be good at night activities but has ability!"
"As expected, you're smart for being mother's daughter! Your father kindly took me back."
"Oh geez~ Our father is such a softie, isn't he!"
Mecha Tyrannosaurus Father.
Kamen Rider Mother.
Magical Girl Killgrim.
The family was all gathered.
Killgrim was happy.
"Hehe... Hehehe..."
And so, the world welcomed peace.
Magical☆Director protected the world for a long, long time.
It is said the reunited family fell apart in less than a year.
A Happy Ending.
All's well that ends well.
-The end-
Mistaken for a Masked Mastermind
Completed
"Viktor."
"Yes?"
Suddenly, the Princess-nim calls me.
At the end of her pointing finger, something clunky lay twitching.
"This guy, he's smiling though..."
"Oh, you're right."
The lab director.
I think his name was Kilgrim.
His entire body was chopped into pieces by the axe I swung.
However, the head rolling on the floor was strange.
"Hehe, hehehe..."
He was smiling even while dying.
His eyes were rolled back, as if conscious.
I tilted my head but decided it was fine and ignored it.
"Just leave it. He must be having a good dream."
"Hmm. Understood."
There was no business left with someone who was already a corpse.
Thwuck-!
The face that was at least smiling is bisected by an axe.
As the laughter stops, I walk down the corridor again.
Carmilla also shows no particular interest and stands beside me.
"Hoo... Since we've finished dealing with it, we should collect some rewards, right?"
I grin.
Just wait.
Furube yurayura.